


as mankind wills it (before we part remix)

by prodigal_son_tm



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Noir
Genre: 1940s, Alternate Universe - 1940s, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - World War II, M/M, Manhattan Project, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 05:31:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13652433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prodigal_son_tm/pseuds/prodigal_son_tm
Summary: In 1945, Steve and Tony work together for the first time under unlikely circumstances in order to prevent mankind from building a weapon capable of destroying worlds.





	as mankind wills it (before we part remix)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Cap/IM remix relay. The title comes from a quote by Leslie Richard Groves, who worked on the Manhattan Project.
> 
> In answer to the question, “Was the development of the atomic bomb by the United States necessary?” I reply unequivocally, “Yes.” To the question, “Is atomic energy a force for good or for evil?” I can only say, “As mankind wills it.”

Tony Stark, heir to Stark Industries, had gone from a war profiteer at the age of nineteen to an undercover anti-war vigilante by the age of 21.

Howard Stark and the rest of SI and countless other unknowing participants had been deeply involved in handling the Manhattan Project, working to create a bomb that would more than avenge all the people who'd been killed in Pearl Harbor. Didn't matter that the bomb would wipe out more than a hundred thousand people, or that the effects of the radiation would linger for decades after the fact, at least. What mattered, apparently, was that Howard Stark served his country and that the country he served won. Whatever the hell "winning" meant.

When it became apparent to Tony that everything was falling into place for Stark Industries and the others working on the Manhattan Project, Tony had started to interfere with the project in every way he could. He'd tamper with the codes on the machinery, or move little things around where they wouldn't be found. One of the things about the meticulously organized laboratory was how easy it was to tamper with things. Tony was able to pinpoint the locations of things that the scientists and engineers would definitely need and hide them in the perfect location where they wouldn't be found. Tony's efforts were able to delay the creation of the atomic bomb for more than a year, if Tony were to give it a rough estimate.

However, Tony's meddling hadn't gone unnoticed. Captain Steve Rogers, a member of the Military Policy Committee overseeing the Project, had been watching Tony poke his nose where it didn't belong for months before Steve finally became certain enough to approach Tony.

"You're Howard's son, aren't you?" Steve asked, walking in on Tony one night while he was in the middle of rearranging the data from a few past test trials with atomic fission. They were getting closer and closer, and Tony was starting to panic. He couldn't seem to hide things fast enough, couldn't seem to make things quite disorganized enough that the scientists would just give it all a rest.

Tony jumped, startled by the question. He turned around to face Steve, frown plastered on his face and a worry line between his eyebrows. "Yeah. Yes, I am." Tony said shakily, looking back at Steve for a second before looking down at the piles of paper he'd been messing with. This couldn't look good. In fact, this had to look downright awful, or Steve wouldn't have that look on his face.

"What are you doing in the lab at four in the morning?" Steve asked him, his guard still way up even though Tony was obviously terrified and not at all inclined to start telling lies.

"Is that the time? Damn. Must've lost track." Tony said, not even making an effort to sound honest. He was caught red-handed. He knew it and Steve knew it. This was treason, wasn't it? But it was the exact risk that Tony had taken when he decided to go against his father's company. Contrary to what people might have thought of Tony in the past, he did happen to value the thousands of lives that would be lost to the nuclear bombs over his own life.

Steve took a few steps toward Tony, looking down at the mess of papers. "Why are you trying to sabotage the Project?" Steve asked him, and Tony could've sworn that he heard something that sounded like guilt in Steve's voice.

"The, uh, ramifications of detonating a nuclear bomb are going to affect people for generations after the fact." Tony's voice sounded far away in his own head. The fact that he was probably going to prison, and maybe even being executed, was weighing on him. It was sinking in that he really didn't have much of a chance of making it out of this.

Damn it, the engineers were only getting closer and closer. They were going to be able to do it soon, and Tony was… Well, Tony was helpless to stop what was likely to be the end of warfare (hell, the end of life) as everyone knew it.

Steve was silent for several seconds, like he was weighing Tony's words in his head. Tony wondered what he was thinking, but decided against asking any questions out loud. There was no good way of prodding an officer when Tony had just been caught committing a crime. He knew he couldn't reason with an officer.

"I noticed you before. Trying to mess with the project." Steve told him, and his demeanor relaxed a little bit. "You talked to some of the other engineers like you were trying to change the concept. Make it less damaging." Steve said, recalling it. He paused again, and Tony wondered what the hell was with all of Steve's dramatic pauses. "I want to help you." Steve said finally, and Tony couldn't believe his damn ears.

"What?" Tony asked, shock, confusion, and relief all coloring his features.

"You talked about the biological impact. Cancer and genetic mutations and everything. Ecological impact." Steve replied, looking a lot less tense than he had been a few moments ago. "I can't be part of that. It's not right."

Tony was by no means relaxed, but he couldn't help his own response. "What about serving your country? Serving the law?" Tony knew enough about Steve from what his father had told him. Howard and Steve had been buddies at the beginning of the war. Howard had  _made_ Steve. Steve stood out-- he had always been so noble. So unwilling to compromise when it came to duty and service and everything else. He guessed that was probably why they'd selected him for a high-ranking position in the Military Policy Committee. Not that Tony knew all that much about military policy or rank or anything. He just felt like it fit whatever assumptions he'd already made about Steve.

Steve took a moment, doing a God-awful job at keeping his face straight when guilt and frustration seemed so eager to pass over his features.

"I don't want my country to be known for something like this. I don't want my country or myself to be part of something that's going to kill thousands of civilians as a revenge tactic." Steve said, shaking his head a little.

Tony let out a humorless laugh. "You seemed pretty content killing civilians when you were overseas last time. What changed?"

Steve tensed, avoiding Tony's eyes. Tony watched him try to hold his tongue. He wanted to lash out. Tony could tell he was itching to tear him apart, maybe remind Tony of his own hand in the creation of weapons of mass destruction. Tony had invited that kind of response, really, but he was hoping to God that Steve didn't go there.

Tony was trying to preemptively come up with a response for whatever table-turning insult Steve came up with, but Steve finally just spoke up, surprising Tony again with his admission.

"I did."

\--

The decision to work with Tony Stark had been a shockingly easy one for Steve, all things considered. He'd gotten over his guilt and his anxiety about getting caught early on, as the pace started picking up in the lab. Everyone seemed convinced that foreign spies were to blame for the loss of test data, for the changes in their numbers, for the disappearance of all kinds of supplies.

Some people thought it was a bad omen. Some of the engineers had cold feet, now that the bomb was getting more and more real at every moment. They'd begun to ask themselves about the value of revenge over human life, similar to the way that Tony probably had. But overall, everyone kept moving forward, making do. They were printing copies of things, sometimes going to the effort of locking things in absurd places to keep spies from looking for them. Tony had said that he couldn't do anything about the locks- he didn't even know who kept the keys to file cabinets and certain doors throughout the building, and he didn't have the means to break in anywhere. Not with the level of security on the building.

Besides, the Project had gotten so big.

They were conducting all kinds of supply shipments from all over the country, and Steve couldn't even begin to fathom how many people must have been involved in this without even knowing what they were doing. He remembered that just a few years ago, he and Bucky would've done just about any job to get by without asking too many questions. There were entire towns in existence just because of the sheer amount of job openings to build a bomb, populated by clueless, desperate people who didn't and couldn't have known any better.

It was all of these people, and all of these advances, that made it possible.

On July 16th, Steve and Tony watched the first detonation of a nuclear bomb. Steve had helped arm it, and Tony had watched with the other scientists. Tony had had his doubts about the test, taking bets with the other scientists present and hoping to God that the experiment was a dud.

Of course, it wasn't at all.

Steve watched in horror as the intense flash of light illuminated the mountain peaks in the most absurdly beautiful way, and listened to the boom and the roar that followed. Steve looked around at those beside him, trying to gauge everyone else's responses.

Some people were crying. Some people were smiling, relieved. There was talking and even laughter. Steve could hardly hear them, could hardly process what had just happened before his eyes.

Steve couldn't recall the time that passed between watching the explosion and returning to his dormitory, where Tony was already waiting for him.

Tony's eyes were dry, but his expression told Steve that he was distraught.

They fell into each other's arms wordlessly, silent understanding passing between them. They were both crippled by the feeling of failure, the sense of loss so heavy that neither of them could possibly aim to express it to one another. Not that they needed to, after these few months together.

An unknowable amount of time passed before Steve finally broke the silence, his voice surprisingly steady considering the circumstances. "It's too late." He told Tony. He was pained by his own words, disappointed in himself in all the men he'd been working with since the beginning of this project.

With those words, Tony was brought back to their first direct contact, to those hours spent hopelessly obsessed with interrupting the unstoppable force of scientists' hubris and the government's desperation. As horrible as it was, Tony couldn't help but believe that it had all been for nothing after all. That they had never had a chance of standing in the way of the creation of a device with the potential to wipe out populations, to destroy the very species that had created it.

When Tony responded, his voice trembled.

"Maybe it always was."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a historian by any means, so I apologize if the details presented here are not entirely accurate. Although I did do a lot of research, there were some moments where I had to fill in the blanks. Hope you guys liked it!


End file.
